Improvement in washing-machines



J. F. LAWSON. WASHING-MAGHINE.

13701701862. I Patented Dec. 7,1875.

FETERs. PNQTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITED $T TEs PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. LAWSON, OF BUTLER, MISSOURI.

IMPRCVEMENT IN WASHING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent 7N0. 170,862, dated.December 7, 1875; application filed July 28, 1875.

To all tvhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J As. F. LAWSON, of Butler, in the county of Batesand in the State of both figures in the designation ofidentical' parts.

This invention relates to that class of washing-machines which consist,in the main, of a suds-box having a corrugated or fluted bottom, andswinging rubber traversing the fluted bottom.

My improvement relates to a washing-machine in which the rubbingapparatus is construct ed in the form of jaws for griping the clothes,to carry them back and forth duringtbe rubbing action, and thusassimilate the operation to hand-washing on an ordinary washboard. Itconsists in certain structural peculiarities in the rubbing apparatus,providing for an easy and quick adjustment of the jaws, and in sohanging said rubbing apparatus that the pressure with which it shallbear on the corrugated bottom depends upon the force with which theoperator may bear down on its handle.

The bottom of the suds -box A, consisting of a sheet of zinc curved intothe arc of a circle, is covered nearly its whole extent with transversebars B, forming a corrugated surface. The rubbing apparatus consists oftwo pairs of jaws, O O 0 0 respectively pivoted upon pins 0, on theconnecting plates 0 c at their upper ends, in such a manner that thereremains a space, d, between them, for the reception of the elevated barD, upon which the rubber is suspended, and which is secured at eitherend to standards fixed to the sides of the suds-box, one of which isshown in broken lines in Fig. 1. The space d between the jaws providesfor free up-and-down play of the rubber on the bar D. The correspondingjaws of the two pairs are, at their lower ends, connected by bars 0 0thus giving a griping-surface from one pair to the other, entirelyacross the suds-box. They are operated by a handleframe, composed of theside bars E E, links E E cross-bar E and rounds, E E The side barsconstitute levers, fulcrumed on the jaws C and having their curved reararms connected by the links E to the jaws C, so that, by turning thehandle-frame on the fulora c of the side bars E, the jaws can be openedand closed. A rack, F, is secured to each jaw G, to engage the side barsof the handle-frame, and thus hold the jaws closed.

To disengage the side bars, their forward arms are bent toward eachother, being sufficiently elastic to thisend. To permit this they are soconnected to the cross-bar E that they may-slide thereon, and asufficient space is also left between the rounds E for this purpose. Theside bars are confined to the respective rounds by staples e, as clearlyshown in Fig. 2.

The clothes to be washed are placed in the suds'box, and are then washedby the rubbing apparatus on the corrugated bottom, the jaws acting in amanner very similar to the human hand, taking hold of the clothes, andcarrying them back and forth at the same time that they are rubbed.

The pressure is easily regulated by the operator by bearing with more orless force on the handle-frame.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The jaws G 0, divided by a space, (1, in combination with the bar D,from which they are suspended, and on which they slide perpendicularly,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The griping-jaws,in combination with the side bars E E, links E E andracks F, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The griping-jaws, in combination with the side bars E E, links E Eracks F, cross-bar E, and rounds E E substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

' JAS. F. LAWSON.

Witnesses:

A. HENRY, L. A. BIGGS.

